Dow sinks overnight: Aus shares poised to open lower

Market Reports

by Rachael Jones

The Australian share market looks set to open slightly lower again today, continuing to take into account the geopolitical worries with Syrian tensions rising from the US.

All three benchmarks in the US are lower with the Dow sinking overnight.

Stocks making the biggest moves in the US are Bed Bath and Beyond, American Water Works and QuinStreet.

Meanwhile Facebook extended its rally as founder Mark Zuckerberg is facing a congressional hearing where lawmakers are criticizing the the company’s privacy practices and calling for regulating internet firms’ use of personal data.

On the commodities front – Oil rebounded. Gold was also up.

US economic news 

The US Federal Reserve released the minutes from its March meeting, which reconfirmed that the world's most important central bank is tilting towards accelerating its pace of interest rate increases.

Taking all of this into equation, the ASX futures are pointing to a 13 points fall. Yesterday the Australian share market closed lower with the S&P/ASX 200 Index losing 28 points to 5829.

To the figures from around the globe: Wall Street closed lower: The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.9 per cent to close at 24,189, the S&P 500 lost 0.6 per cent to close at 2,642 and the NASDAQ fell 0.4 per cent to close at 7069.

European markets closed lower: London’s FTSE fell 0.1 per cent, Paris closed 0.6 per cent down and Frankfurt dropped 0.8 per cent.

Asian markets closed mixed: Tokyo’s Nikkei fell 0.5 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.6 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.6 per cent.


Company news

Toll operator Transurban Group (ASX:TCL) has announced that Transurban Queensland has lodged a third supplemental Offering Circular with the Singapore exchange.

Transurban has a 62.5 per cent ownership interest in Transurban Queensland.

The application has been made for permission to deal in any Notes that maybe issued.

This comes after Transurban saw a strong first half - reporting a rise in net profits to $331 million dollars.

The company has also recently paid $861 million for a roll road and bridge in Montreal in Canada.

Shares in Transurban (ASX:TCL) closed 0.18% lower to $11.37.

Ex-dividends




Currencies

One Australian Dollar at 7:45AM was buying US77.58 cents, 54.73 Pence Sterling, 82.87 Yen and 62.75 Euro cents.

Commodities

Gold has gained $13.70 to $US1357 an ounce.
Silver has added $0.07 to $US16.67 an ounce.
Oil has gained $1.18 to $US66.62 a barrel.

Cryptocurrencies

The three most traded cryptocurrencies are trading higher: Bitcoin has gained 0.73 per cent to US$6,897, Ethereum added 1.97 per cent to US$419.65 and EOS has jumped 26.95 per cent to US$7.65
 

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